NOW THAT WE ARE DONE WITH THE FESTIVITIES...

Christmas has come and gone and the new year has begun, so what next? As the euphoria of the festive period dances into oblivion till it returns to cheer an angry nation, it is the slow and steady descent into the abyss of mismanagement called Nigeria. For the common man, the hustle continues as he battles to eke out a living in a system that is at war with him. The smiling masks worn during the holidays is now replaced with what truly lies beneath: a frowning face, red eyes of rage and thin, unsmiling lips.

2012 in retrospect was a very bad year. In Nigeria especially, it was terrible. It began with the introduction of the most insensitive policy of fuel subsidy removal by the Jonathan administration. This sparked up protests and a nation wide strike that crippled the already crippled economy further. Some of us were killed by over enthusiastic agents of our "democratic" government who failed to realize that what we fought for during the Occupy Nigeria protests was our collective rights to live in an enabling environment.

The sell-out compromise that stemmed the rising tide, the mind-boggling corruption revealed afterwards in the oil sector showing serving public officials and friends of the presidency who were complicit in the unreserved plundering of our common wealth, the unbelievable extravagance of the presidency and the baffling cost of running a democracy in Nigeria, the indicted oil marketers and the Herman Hembe and Farouk Lawan/Otedola scandals (of which none, NO NOT ONE has been imprisoned till date), the Dana crash, our abysmal performance at the London Olympics, the unrelenting onslaught of Boko Haram in the North and the inability of this administration to provide adequate security life and property, the increasing spate of kidnappings and armed robbery, the ever increasing unemployment rate, the flood and my personal favorite; the fanfare that followed the completion and commencement of an over inflated project that provided a locomotive train in 2012 just to mention a few. These are some of the highlights of 2012. What a shame!

The best word to qualify 2012 in Nigeria is TRAGIC. The unwillingness, nonchalance, the total detachment from reality of the Jonathan-led administration to the plight of the citizenry and its refusal to make any meaningful impact on the life of Nigerians is an absolute tragedy considering that he was touted to be the messiah. In fact, it would appear that the objective of the so called Transformation Agenda is to inflict further hardship on the masses and push further an economy that has hung tenaciously at the edge of a dangerous cliff. Nigeria is run by a group of people who seem determined to render her insolvent.

Now that the holidays are gone, we are cast back to the dark dungeon of reality. That we have a government that doesn't give a damn; that steady power supply is going to remain a myth because the government is ready to borrow N178billion more to sink into this white elephant project that the search for power has become, despite billions of Naira previously pumped; that unemployment is going to skyrocket further because the highly decorated co-ordinating minister of the economy seems to be just as clueless as her boss, having created millions of jobs...on paper; that the untouchable cabal will continue the plundering of our resources with kind assistance from government; that the lies by Maku, Abati and Okupke will continue unabated as they continue to praise the non-existent revamping of our steadily deteriorating infrastructure that has killed many; that the reign of terror by Boko Haram and its splinter groups will continue...

We all came into 2013 with high hopes, as we often do when we approach a new year and we can especially be hopeful now as it would appear that the cry of the blood of the innocents have reached the high heavens. The tail end of 2012 was filled with "high profile" tragedies which I sincerely hope has instilled the fear of God into the hearts of these godless men and women who pilot the affairs of this nation. It feels reassuring to know that stolen wealth is no guarantee to safety. While I do not wish evil on any man, these high profile tragedies should serve as a wake up call that even though the eyes of the human concept of justice constantly peeps through the blindfolds to serve the powerful, the wrath of God is no respecter of persons.

Now that we are done with the festivities, we would like our public officials to look into our unsmiling faces and know that we are watching and waiting. Mr President has said that our attitude to government is the problem of Nigeria; not corruption and the lip service he pays it. He said that his administration is threading cautiously so as not to make mistakes while making calamitous blunders in the process. As 2015 draws closer, we are watching and waiting...

Malcolm O. Ifi.

Engage on twitter @saymalcolm